MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – After learning a 22-year-old man’s death in police custody had been revised to homicide, a group of leaders met Sunday night to brainstorm ways to mount a community response.

The Journal Sentinel reported Sunday that the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office has revised its ruling on the death of Derek Williams, who died in Milwaukee police custody in July 2011, from natural to homicide, according to the district attorney’s office.

If Williams had gotten immediate medical attention, he would not have died in the backseat of a squad car while Milwaukee police officers ignored his pleas for help, James Hall, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, said Sunday.

Hall and other civil rights and community leaders gathered Sunday at a church on N. 2nd St. to discuss the death.

The group urged everyone in the community to watch the video from the squad car camera showing officers disregarding Williams for more than 7 minutes as he writhes around gasping for air.

In making his initial determination of natural death more than a year ago, Assistant Medical Examiner Christopher Poulos did not review all of the police reports or a squad video recently obtained by the newspaper.

The video shows a handcuffed Williams, his eyes rolled back, gasping for breath and begging for help in the back seat of a Milwaukee police car as officers ignore his pleas. The police reports include key details about Williams’ arrest that the medical examiner didn’t know.

As a result of the new ruling, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has reopened the investigation into whether criminal charges are warranted against any of the officers involved.

Williams, who had gotten out of jail earlier in the day after being arrested on municipal warrants for loitering, vandalism and assault, fled from police after attempting to rob a couple near the intersection of N. Holton and E. Center streets, according to the reports.

His death shows that change is needed in Milwaukee, said Keith Bailey, of Milwaukee Matters, a local non-proft advocacy group.

Citizens need to let elected officials know: “We can’t take this anymore,” Bailey said. “We will not allow another person to perish the way that Derek Williams Jr. perished in the back of a police cruiser,”

Attorney Jonathan Safran, who represents Williams’ long-term girlfriend and their three young children, said this case is among the worst he’s had.

“The video is one of the most troubling things I have ever seen … it’s simply unconscionable to watch what happens in the back of that squad car.”

Safran said he receives calls daily from people who claim they have been victims of excessive force by the police department and the issue doesn’t get appropriately addressed.

He’s calling on the U.S. attorney’s office to take the case.

“The district attorney’s office is not the agency to be reviewing this. It’s the officers they work with on a daily basis,” Safran said.

Chisholm, the Police Department and the Fire and Police Commission previously had cleared the officers of wrongdoing, largely based on the medical examiner’s earlier ruling of natural death.

In an earlier interview with the Journal Sentinel, Chisholm emphasized that the revised finding does not mean a crime was committed.

In a statement, Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn said he did not expect any officers to be criminally charged as a result of the new ruling.

Throughout the campaign, in high-profile speeches and private remarks, Obama has sought to maintain the theme that powered his 2008 bid for the White House, arguing that a vote for him is a vote for a new day in Washington.

He has said his reelection will “break the fever” of partisanship in Washington. He’s told voters that “only you can break the stalemate” that has crippled the divided government.

On Saturday, he raised the idea by pointing out that members of Congress had just left town for the campaign season without resolving many disputed issues of taxes and government spending.

Later, in remarks to a crowd at the Milwaukee Theater, Obama issued a call for the kind of change he suggested only a movement of the people can bring about.

“I’ve always said change takes more than one term, one president, one party,” Obama said. “It doesn’t happen if you write off half the nation before you take office. It happens when you include everybody…. Everybody gets involved.”]

It’s a slightly awkward argument for the president, who essentially is asking voters to demand something different from Washington while opting for the familiar with a vote for him.

The dilemma is a perennial one for all incumbents, but it is particularly acute for this president, a man who just four years ago distilled his first campaign’s slogan to just the one word.

Obama has tried variations on the “change” theme throughout his campaign. He has asked voters to guard the change that’s already occurred. He’s put the onus on voters, saying, “You are the change.”

The latter riff shot to prominence this week when challenger Mitt Romney’s campaign and other Republicans cast his remarks as a white flag — an acknowledgment that Obama was giving up on his promise to change Washington.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan renewed the complaint on Saturday. As Obama made his way to Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin for several campaign stops, Ryan mocked Obama’s “change equation.”

“Why do we send presidents to the White House in the first place?” Ryan told a crowd in Miami. “We send presidents to change and fix the mess in Washington, and if this president has admitted that he can’t change Washington, then you know what? We need to change presidents.”

The candidate of “Yes, we can” has become the president of “no, I can’t,” Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Saturday.

The back-and-forth demonstrates the potential potency of the change message — particularly as the most disaffected of voters tune in for the final stretch of the campaign. With a stagnant economy and a pile of problems awaiting the next president, the candidate who can position himself as change agent may still hold a fierce weapon in this election.

Obama’s hurdles are considerable. If he is reelected, not even his campaign is expecting the victory to be a result of the sort of Democratic wave necessary to wrest control of the House of Representatives from Republicans or give Democrats the overwhelming majority needed to have their way in the Senate. In other words, January 2013 would look much like June 2012 — divided government.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – A 19-year-old woman who strangled a man because he repeatedly tried to kiss her during a prostitution encounter last fall was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison.

Precious Dupriest pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide in the death of Billy W. Murray, 63, who was found naked with red suspenders wound around his neck in a room at the Village Inn, 3001 W. Wisconsin Ave., on Oct. 18, 2011.

Her attorney said events that night became “a perfect storm” for the violent reaction, after a life full of trauma for Dupriest that included early abandonment, violent sexual abuse and drug addiction.

She had been charged with first-degree intentional homicide but pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 20 years. In addition to the 18 years, she will serve another 10 years on extended supervision.

Police tracked down Dupriest from video that showed her leaving the hotel in Murray’s car, which she later traded to someone for $50. She told detectives Murray had picked her up on the street and asked if she wanted to get high and have sex.

The two went to the Village Inn and smoked $40 of crack when Murray started trying to kiss her, she told investigators, an act she found “disgusting.” When he persisted, she choked him to unconsciousness, then strangled him with a pair of red suspenders to make sure he was dead.

In court Friday, the victim’s family asked Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Ellen Brostrom for 60 years. Dupriest “put out the light,” that was his brother’s life, said Thomas Murray. More than a dozen family and friends from several states came to court, and many more sent letters about Murray, the judge indicated.

Dupriest’s father also appeared. Robert Bartleson apologized to his daughter for not being a better father to her, then told Brostrom how he had battled crack addiction himself and left his family when Precious was just 2 to move to Arkansas.

After he cleaned up his own life, he said, he tried repeatedly to have Precious live with him and his wife in Arkansas but said he met resistance from social workers waiting for Precious’ mother to overcome her own drug problems.

Dupriest said she hates herself for what she’s done, but is currently sober after 342 days in jail and has learned from her mistakes.

“I just ask that you please have mercy,” she told Brostrom.

The judge noted Dupriest’s sincere remorse, young age and traumatic childhood, and the altered state while high on crack, but said the seriousness of the crime and huge loss to Murray’s family demanded a serious prison term.

Brostrom called Dupriest’s two dozen foster care placements “an absolute travesty,” but told Dupriest she could find redemption even in a prison term, because when it’s done she will have paid her debt to society and be able to “turn the page” and move on with a better sense of self-worth and years of treatment and education.

MUKWONAGO, WISCONSIN – By 7 a.m. Monday, senior Nick Blohm already had burned about 250 calories in the Mukwonago High School weight room.

He grabbed a bagel and a Gatorade afterward; if he eats before lifting, he gets sick.

That was followed by eight periods in the classroom, and then three hours of football practice. By the time he headed home, he had burned upward of 3,000 calories – his coach thinks the number is even higher.

But the calorie cap for his school lunch? 850 calories.

“A lot of us are starting to get hungry even before the practice begins,” Blohm said. “Our metabolisms are all sped up.”

Following new federal guidelines, school districts nationwide have retooled their menus to meet new requirements to serve more whole grains, only low-fat or nonfat milk, daily helpings of both fruits and vegetables, and fewer sugary and salty items. And for the first time, federal funds for school lunches mandate age-aligned calorie maximums. The adjustments are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 touted by Michelle Obama and use the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The changes are hard to swallow for students like Blohm. On Monday, 70% of the 830 Mukwonago High students who normally buy lunch boycotted cafeteria food to protest what they see as an unfair “one size fits all thing.” Middle schoolers in the district also boycotted their school lunches, with counts down nearly half Monday. They’re not alone in their frustration; schools across the country are reporting students who are unhappy with the lunch offerings.

The sub sandwich line at Mukwonago High used to let students pile veggies on a six-inch French bread bun. Options now include a fist-sized whole wheat roll or multigrain wrap, and the once popular line is now mostly empty.Read the rest of this entry »

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – Milwaukee police Officer Erin K. Lelinski has been suspended for 30 days for driving drunk and becoming involved in a crash while off duty, according to the Fire and Police Commission.

The crash occurred around 9:20 p.m. June 7 outside Lucky’s Irish Pub, 789 W. Layton Ave., according to a complaint Chief Edward Flynn filed with the commission. The complaint does not indicate whether another vehicle was involved in the crash or whether anyone was injured. Lelinski’s blood-alcohol level was 0.21, more than twice the legal limit for driving in Wisconsin, the complaint says.

Lelinski was hired as a police officer in 2000. Her previous disciplinary record includes only an official reprimand for missing court, according to her personnel record.

A Journal Sentinel investigation published in October found that at least 93 Milwaukee police officers had been disciplined for violating the laws and ordinances they were sworn to uphold. Of those, 35 were disciplined by the department after being arrested for off-duty drunken driving since they were hired.

After the newspaper shared its findings with Flynn, he rolled out a new program to help officers deal with alcohol-related issues.

Since then, at least a half-dozen more officers have been disciplined for driving drunk, not including Lelinski.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – The parents of a 14-year-old boy accused of killing a man were charged Friday with providing the gun allegedly used by the boy to shoot the victim multiple times, according to a criminal complaint.

Jammie Lewis Yerks, 42, of Milwaukee was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, party to a crime/use of a dangerous weapon. Chacette M. Buchanan, 35, of Menasha was charged with intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death, party to a crime.

The boy is charged as an adult with first-degree intentional homicide in the fatal shooting of Dennis Smith Jr., 27, of Milwaukee, on Aug. 18 in the 2300 block of W. Keefe Ave. The Journal Sentinel is not identifying the boy because he could be waived into juvenile court. Bail for the boy is set at $500,000, and he is in custody at the Milwaukee County Children’s court center.

An autopsy revealed Smith suffered at least 23 entrance and exit wounds as a result of the shooting that stemmed from a fight between him and the boy, according to a criminal complaint.

According to witness accounts cited in the complaint that charges Yerks and Buchanan:

Smith became involved in an argument with the boy on the morning of Aug. 18. At one point, he brandished a handgun, which he then tucked in his waistband.

Smith also pushed the boy twice, causing him to fall into a porch rail, before a companion of the boy called the boy’s father and told him to bring a gun.

A short time later Yerks and Buchanan pulled up in a car driven by Yerks. He passed a large black gun to Buchanan, who then gave it to the boy.

The boy then fired a volley of shots, striking Smith. He paused and then fired several more shots.

“He showed no mercy,” one witness told police.

The complaint does not address whether a handgun was found on Smith.

After killing Smith, according to the complaint, the boy got into Yerks’ car and they fled.

Buchanan then called a son who lives in Menasha, telling him to drive to Milwaukee to pick up the 14-year-old because the boy had “gotten into trouble.”

On Aug. 31 the boy and his parents were arrested at the Menasha home of Buchanan’s son, according to the complaint.

Yerks, who has a previous record for theft, issuing worthless checks and operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent, was being held in the Milwaukee County Jail Friday. Bail was set at $500,000.

If convicted Yerks could be sentenced to life in prison.

Buchanan, who has a previous conviction for disorderly conduct, also was in jail Friday. Her bail was set at $500,000. If convicted she could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.